A controversial reform and a minister in the eye of the storm. Although this Friday marks the last day of review of the pension reform in the National Assembly, the Minister of Labor Olivier Dussopt takes the blows and continues to be pressured.
The latest symptom of these tensions is the lively exchange on Thursday between the minister and the socialist deputy Jérôme Guedj, who accuses her of not giving the right figures regarding the pension of 1,200 euros. “You’ve lost control for a few days” and “you don’t know how to redo the cherry,” replied Olivier Dussopt, visibly irritated.
Insults, invectives and provocations
It must be said that since the beginning of the debates at the Palais Bourbon, the successor to Elisabeth Borne rue de Grenelle has been the victim of criticism, invective and provocations that sometimes go far.
On February 9, the rebel deputy from Seine-Saint-Denis Thomas Portes caused a controversy for having stepped on a balloon with the image of the minister. A snapshot for which he was sanctioned with a 15-day exclusion from the Assembly. A few days later, another rebel, Aurélien Saintoul, called him a “murderer” in front of a stunned chamber. An exit for which he apologized, but which earned him the withdrawal of part of his parliamentary allowance for a month.
An explosive climate that the Minister lives with great difficulty, according to the confidences of some of his Assembly colleagues.
“This word (murderer, editor’s note) had on him as if he had received a bullet from a revolver,” Philippe Vigier, MoDem deputy for Eure-et-Loir, explains to BFMTV.
“He wanted to leave the chamber immediately, which is normal, there were a few of us to surround him, accompany him to denounce this injustice and give him the necessary moral support at this time,” adds the chosen one.
Invited this Friday from BFMTV and RMC, the minister returned to these facts, stressing that “there are words that we simply cannot forgive.”
“The incident is closed for me, but it is not because it is closed that it is forgiven,” he adds.
Minister and scapegoat
During heated debates in the National Assembly, particularly over unpopular reforms, the minister in charge of the file often acts as a scapegoat.
In 2010, already in favor of a highly controversial but desired pension reform by Nicolas Sarkozy, then Labor Minister, Éric Woerth, now a member of the majority, had been violently reprimanded during debates at the Palais Bourbon.
“There were times when we almost came to blows. I myself had been insulted a lot for a long time, but there were moments of calm in the debate”, the main interested party qualifies with BFMTV.
Following these latest episodes, combined with the proliferation of death threats and homophobic insults on social media, security around Olivier Dussopt has been tightened. The protection around him has been increased from 1 to 3 security guards, who are also by his side in his spare time.
Source: BFM TV
